YOURSAY: Let go of the weight you have been carrying in your heart

Is it just me who has noticed how weight loss has become an industry in itself?  To begin with, there are those instant pills and drinks that promise you change in a mere 24 hours, as well as the TV competitions which take their overweight participants to a

boot camp and then reward the biggest ‘loser’.

We are keen to get rid of the excess weight we have accumulated over the years, and are willing to do just about anything to shed it. Unfortunately, we have forgotten another heavy load we drag around every day.

Most of us are not even aware how toxic this load is. If someone weighed your emotional baggage today, how heavy would it be?

In our social interactions, we have offended others or have been wronged, but instead of confronting the hurt, we have allowed the negative emotions this hurt triggers to take root.

We find ourselves at logger heads with our relatives, colleagues, friends and neighbours, even people we are no longer in touch with, including the dead!

I bet you have seen people fighting in public, the aim for those involved being to prove a point, forgetting that the spectators will not help, rather, they will be taking videos, which they will then post on social media for others to make fun off.

'THEY PRETEND ALL IS WELL'

Then there are those who put on a façade, pretending all is well, yet within, they are seething with anger and all sorts of negativity.

Have you ever been in the company of a couple of people, and when one of them leaves, those left immediately begin to backbite him? How hypocritical and uncharitable can we be?

We at times allow ourselves to be dragged into feuds that do not concern us, since we know one of those involved. Whether this friend is right or wrong, we take their side, just to avoid being called a Judas. I must talk about family feuds, which are especially notorious for going on for decades; generation after generation find themselves embroiled in fights whose genesis they do not even know.

It is often argued that forgiveness is pegged on the gravity of the offense; that there are those slights that you forgive on the spot, while there are others that you carry around and lament about to all that care to listen. There are yet others that you seek revenge. You must have also heard someone say, “We will forgive each other in heaven,” meaning that this person has no intention of forgiving.

Forgiving and forgetting is not that simple, especially if there is a daily reminder that someone wronged you, or if you see this person regularly. At the end of the day though, it is better off to let go, since carrying hurt is too much of a burden.

Our religious beliefs encourage us to be quick to forgive and to guard our hearts, for the heart is the wellspring of life. If we allow ourselves be filled with too much negativity, we will radiate negativity as well, negativity that will eat us from within.

Some of the illnesses we suffer from today can be traced to our emotional state – if it is unhealthy, you’re likely to be unwell too. The fact is that the matter that controls your heart controls you.

What is imprisoning your heart today? Is it jealousy, envy, anger or bitterness? It is time to be kind to your heart, and resolve to get rid of the negative emotions you have been harbouring for years. Forgive and make peace with all those you feel have wronged you.

This might demand facing this person and telling them why their actions hurt you. Once you let go, you will have let go of that heavy weight you have been carrying.